hi all,
i'm a newbie who needs to start out at a higher carb count because i can't afford to lose any weight (am recovering from illness and need to maintain my current weight - not gain and not lose.) problem is, because i didn't go through induction, i don't have a gut understanding of how the carbs factor into a day of eating, and i haven't "detoxed" from carbs as many of you are doing by going through induction.

can someone help me strategize how many carbs should be in my way-of-life eating plan as a newbie? is there other advice for someone like me, who wants to do the low carb eating plan but needs to start post-induction? i understand that induction is (less than or equal to) 20 grams of carbs. after induction, i've read that folks can increase to 40-55 carb grams. is 40-55 maintenance? or is maintenance another (higher) number?

thanks a bunch,

Hi Shiva!

Maintainance levels of carbs vary from person to person, but can range all the way from 40 to 100 grams a day.
You might want to start in the range of 60 or so and see how it goes. If you're just interested in maintaining and improving your health, a good book to get hold of would be "Atkins For Life" since its focus is more on maintainance than weight loss.
Try to get your carbs from whole, unprocessed, low to moderate glycemic sources, such as vegetables, lower glycemic fruits (berries, melons, oranges, peaches, etc...) and whole grains and avoid white flour, white sugar and high fructose corn syrup.
HTH!

hi lisa,
thanks for the insight! i'll look into the book you mention and learn my way around the various low carb ("low glycemic"?) foods for the maintenance diet.

melon, berries and oranges are foods i can live with! yum yum.

thanks again,